US-based Conti Group leaving Anaklia Development Consortium

Conti Group, the US-based construction and development company and founder of the Anaklia Development Consortium together with TBC Holding, is leaving the consortium, announces Georgian media outlet accentnews.ge.

Accentnews.ge reports that the reason is the developments around the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, where no agreement has been reached between the government of Georgia and the project investor banks (EBRD, OPIC, ADB and AIIB) so far.

Now, as the government of Georgia prolonged the term of submitting financial closer documents for the consortium by six months, the government and four donor banks have six month period to agree on the last point of a series of eight demands, which asks the state to be the guarantor for the insurance of freight turnover with the consortium.

Once an agreement has been reached, the consortium and donor banks will invest in the project.

Accentnews.ge reports that another reason of Conti Group’s concern was recent developments around consortium founders from TBC Holding Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.

• TBC Bank founders Khazaradze, Japaridze to be charged with laundering $16.7 mln

This month both Khazaradze and Japaridze announced to resign from the consortium’s supervisory board, which will welcome three new members once the shareholders vote to approve the appointments.